Militants killed in a special operation in Grozny, the capital of Russia's volatile North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, on Sunday planned to blow up a shopping mall and the city's central mosque, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said Monday.

The two were killed on Sunday morning in a Grozny apartment in a shootout with police, who suspected them of killing other police officers.

"A memory stick was found on the militants with a video recording of their talks, in which they discussed their plans to blow up the Grozny City shopping and entertainment mall and the central mosque of Akhmad Kadyrov," Kadyrov said.

Militant violence is common in Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.

The Kremlin has pledged to wage "a ruthless fight" against militant groups but also acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption as causes of the ongoing violence in the region.

Russia has been fighting militants in the North Caucasus for over a decade, including two separatist wars in Chechnya.

GROZNY, August 9 (RIA Novosti)